Alberta forecasts $4.6-billion surplus in budget update, but braces for uncertainty

The government had recently expected WTI to average US$76.50 a barrel this year, but is now revising that expectation down

Alberta is forecasting a $4.6-billion surplus for this fiscal year, but Finance Minister Nate Horner says “mounting pressures” threaten to soon put the province in the red.

Horner made the comments Thursday as he delivered the new numbers in the second-quarter update to this year’s budget.

Aside from Alberta’s traditional reliance on volatile oil revenues, Horner said there are other worries, such as a promise by incoming U.S. president Donald Trump to impose punishing trade tariffs.